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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

A Blessing in Disguise: a birth story

I know I didn't blog all month, but you have to forgive me - being 9 months pregnant and hating everything and all ;) It'll probably be a while before I really get back into blogging anyway. Three kids take up a lot of time! :)

My new little girl was born three days ago and I can't stop thinking about how lucky we were.I had been having false labor for about a week. Nothing makes you crankier than false labor. Saturday night I thought my water broke so we went in but the ph test said no. I was also 50% effaced and 2cm dilated. I really thought I'd at least be a three but was sent home. Bummer. Sunday morning though I had some physical signs that labor was about 24 hours away. There was also some very personal/spiritual signs as well so we started getting excited. I had been having some pretty strong contractions, they still weren't regular, but I was getting hopeful. Here's where things get interesting.Sunday1:00 pm - decide to go to church. Walk around the corridors with a fussy toddler most of the time praying for contractions. I think I had 1.1:45 - take the toddler home where she strips off her dress, grabs her blanky and heads for bed. I decide to do the same.4:00 - decided napping was just what I needed because I now feel awful. Stomach cramps and back pains and all kinds of fun stuff.6:00 - I feel like I have food poisoning, minus the expelling bodily fluids part. I am so nauseous!!!7:00 - You don't feel this awful unless you're having a baby, right?! Call grandma to come watch the kids. Meanwhile I head to the shower to help relieve my body aches.7:15 - I have the shower as hot as I can stand it and I am shivering my butt off.7:30 - out of shower head back to bed.7:45 - finally dawns on me that I really feel like I've been poisoned. In bed with many layers of blankets and shaking like crazy.7:46 - ah. Fever of 102.5. That would explain it. Midwife tells me to get my butt to labor and delivery.8:00 - grandma arrives and my butt heads to the hospital.8:05 - "honey, remember when my heart really, really hurt with my last pregnancy? because it's doing that now."8:20 - arrive at the hospital. Temp is still really high and blood pressure is 84/42 rapid heart rate. Baby's heart looks good though. Well that's at least a relief! Hooked up to IV for antibiotics just in case. Blood and urine tests ordered.8:30 - feel too sick to watch the Lost finale. I know. That's serious.9:00 - apparently I'm massively dehydrated and my WBC count is high. Baby's heart doesn't look as good as we thought. She keeps having decelerations. They'll keep watching baby; hope IV helps raise bp and lower temperature. We then remember that dehydration makes pericardial effusions (what I had last pregnancy) dangerously worse. Apparently that came back.9:30 - okay, there's only 30 min left but what the heck, now I feel good enough to watch Lost!!10:00 - ummm. That was a weird ending.11:00pm - told that baby's heart rate is getting worse. I'm being admitted and induced at 6am. I still feel crummy but now I'm getting really worried.2:00am - 6am isn't early enough. Baby keeps looking worse so they decide to induce me now. Midwife breaks my water and real contractions start. Ow! I'm already nauseous and miserable and no desire to be a martyr, get me an epidural! (while keeping a close watch on my still ridiculously low blood pressure).2:05 - ow! ... ow! ... ow! ...2:15 - they decide to add pitocin to speed things up.2:16- OW! OW! OW!2:20 - turn off pitocin.2:30 - anesthesiologist arrives. Bless him. The best part? I can feel everything except pain. I can move my legs, feel my abdomen, everything. Love this epidural.3:00 - Now I remember why I didn't want an epidural. Holy itching batman! Try and sleep anyway.4:30 - I'm 5cm and need to start dilating faster. They give me another hour. Fever is now gone!!5:30 - 5 1/2cm. Someone mentions c-section. I roll onto my left side because, well, it just felt right.5:40 - 6cm5:50 - 8cm I can feel each time a contraction opens my cervix more and yet it doesn't hurt. This is beyond cool!6:00 - 10cm!! They tell me I need to get her out and be a good pusher. They think the cord is wrapped around her neck and that's what's causing her heart decels.6:18 - My sweet little girl is here! The cord was wrapped around her shoulder. Once she's out she looks pink and healthy and beautiful!

What was so amazing to us is that after she was born I felt fine. It took a day for my blood pressure to return to normal (it kept being 80/30 ish) but everything else was gone. They have no idea what I had. But if I didn't have it, we never would have known our baby was having problems. We feel so lucky!I've heard much more amazing stories than that, but we feel extremely blessed and know that the Lord was looking after our family. I truly felt angels with us in the hospital. It really is a miracle when any baby makes it into the world, right?

About Me

I'm a stay at home mom of four with a bit of a crunchy side. I started wearing jewelry again. It's ok, I guess. I love home improvement, sewing, gardening, and learning. I write about my yard, homeschooling, trying to make my small house work for us, and general life stuff. I love small homes.